Collide
by arsenal.luvr
Summary: It was all the bathroom's fault when you really thought about it. What with there only being one of them and it having no lock and walls that seemed impervious to sound, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Casey/Lily


**Disclaimer: If I owned Power Rangers, it wouldn't be made for kids :)  
A/N: I didn't update if you've read this before. I just cleaned up some of the misspelling and stuff. If you haven't read it yet, though, then please enjoy!**

**Collide  
**  
Bleary-eyed and exhausted, as Casey usually was at five-thirty in the morning, he stumbled through the loft in a desperate need to use the bathroom. The walk down the hall was excruciatingly slow as he tried to hold in his urge to pee; cursing R.J. for betting he couldn't drink three cases of Sprite. Five dollars was not enough consolation for having spent the night making one-too-many trips to the bathroom.

Legs firmly crossed, he stood at the door, bent nearly double, and knocked firmly. When no answer came from inside, he made a wild grab for the door knob and pushed it open, hurriedly shoving it closed behind him with a foot. Lifting the toilet seat, only seconds from finally relieving himself, Casey registered that the shower was on. He ignored it, deciding only Theo was crazy enough to be up and showering this early in the morning and his friend would understand his need, having tried to beat him the night before.

The hot water let off a heavy, suffocating steam that made his shirt stick to his back and he had just decided to tell Theo to lay low on the hot showers, when the water turned off. Casey quickly pulled up his pants and flushed the toilet. As well as he and Theo were getting along at the moment, he had a feeling that his presence in the bathroom would not be appreciated by the blue ranger and he did everything in his power not to be there.

He had nearly reached the door, his fingers stretched out to grasp the handle, slick with condensation, when a very un-Theo like voice from behind him made him freeze in his tracks. He turned slowly, hardly daring to do so, and saw the yellow ranger in nothing but a towel. Casey groaned – today was not turning out to be his day.

"What are you doing in here?" Her glare was ferocious enough to make an uncharacteristic spike of fear rise in his chest.

"Hey, Lil," he managed to say with forced cheerfulness. "I didn't know you where in here." That was the truth, if only part of it. He had thought it was Theo taking a shower, not Lily.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" she asked, the tone of her voice making a mass of little red flags appear and begin waving wildly. She was slowly advancing, the dangerous look in her eyes making Casey back up several feet.

"I did knock," he said, getting defensive. "No one answered and I really had to go."

Lily took another step closer and it was probably lucky that it wasn't until that moment that he noticed how underdressed she was. Almost unconsciously, he began to trace her soft, curvy form beneath the damp and somewhat clingy towel. He averted his gaze the moment he realized what he was doing, but not fast enough.

"Casey! You perverted -" Her fist came flying from out of nowhere, hitting Casey solidly in the shoulder.

"Ow," he yelled, dodging a second blow by catching her wrists. He twisted their bodies around with practiced ease until he had Lily against the wall, one of his legs pressed against hers to keep her there while his hands pinned her wrists to her sides.

Breathing hard, it didn't take Casey long to realize just how close he was to her. The graceful curve of her neck was flushed and her cheeks had reached a delicate shade of red that gave Casey the strangest urge to run his lips over her skin. His gaze slowly moved up until they reached her eyes. He'd never noticed how blue they were before – a deep, ocean blue that made him completely forget where he was. Without realizing it, he let go of her wrists, his long fingers running up one bare arm, sending a shiver down her spine as he willingly drowned in her depths of blue.

Adjusting himself a little so that the sinewy muscle in his hand was visibly splayed out on the wall next to her head, he leaned down, moving ever closer to her soft, inviting lips. All outside noises were drowned out by the heavy pounding of his heart as he felt her hand on his chest, gripping a handful of his shirt so she could pull him in to meet her. He felt a thrill of electricity run through him, his lips seeming to sense hers were close by and he licked at them in something like anticipation when an abrupt knock made her jump and shove him backwards out of instinct. Casey stumbled, catching himself on the counter and effectively shattering the sweet intoxication of her scent that had sent his brain reeling.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?"

Casey refused to look at Lily, afraid of the rejection he might see as he silently volunteered to leave. Without a word, he brushed past a groggy Theo, who was observant enough in the early hours of the morning to see the frustration written on the red rangers face. He gave Casey a long look, but decided it could wait and went to push the bathroom door open. His clothes dropped to the floor in numb shock.

"Lily?" His best friend stood stock still against the wall, one hand holding her towel up – which, he realized with an embarrassed blush, was all that covered her – while the other was on her mouth, gently tracing her lips as if to make sure they were still there. "What were you and Casey doing?" he asked slowly, dreading the answer.

* * *

"Have you too noticed the strange vibes coming from your friends, Theo?"

Theo jumped at the sound of R.J.'s voice coming from above his shoulder. He hadn't even heard his master coming up behind him. With a grimace, he let his head drop down to his fist again while he watched his teammates.

As punishment for loosing focus during the fight earlier that day that still had Theo wincing, R.J. had made Lily and Casey clean the place spotless during one of Jungle Karma Pizza's slower hours. Lily was clearing up the tables, carefully balancing a growing stack of dirty dishes, avoiding all eye contact and looking everywhere but at her friends. Theo had noticed her biting her lower lip – a sign he associated with supreme discomfort when coming from Lily.

Casey was acting just as withdrawn as Lily, concentrating solely on sweeping the floor with a small and rare frown creasing his face. Every once in a while, his focus would waver and he'd look up at Lily, wearing an expression that made Theo's blood boil. Then he'd go back to work, his face going red. It had been like that the entire day – the awkward tension rolling off of Casey and Lily in waves. Theo wasn't exactly sure what had happened that morning (Lily had refused to offer him an explanation and had kicked him out with a brilliant tongue lashing the second she had been jogged back to her senses) but he had a very good idea and he was not at all pleased by it.

"I think it has something to do with the bathroom," Theo mentioned bitterly when he realized R.J. was expecting an answer.

"Really?" R.J.'s forehead creased in thought. "Lord knows there's no chance of getting organized when it comes to that. I wonder…" Theo stopped listening as R.J. began rambling out ideas. "Well, you've obviously tuned out. Why don't you take over for Casey? Tell him he can have his shower. He needs one before the smell scares away my customers."

With a grimace pasted permanently on his face, the smaller ranger walked over to his leader, not saying a word, but holding out his hand to take the broom.

Casey's face relaxed with immediate relief. The fight for the first shower always followed a tough battle and he had lost miserably this time. Lily had reached it first with the distinct advantage, quickly followed by Theo – who had waited outside the bathroom, glaring at him the entire time as though daring Casey to try and get past him. And then, after those two had gone, he got his chance only after he was given permission from R.J.

The tall brunette took the stairs two at a time, sighing as he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. He had screwed up big time today and it hadn't even been his fault. Okay, that wasn't entirely true, but how was he supposed to know he would react so strongly to the little incident this morning. It's not like he was attracted to Lily. He was everything but – they were just friends who treated each other like brother and sister.

Of course, brothers and sisters didn't go around almost kissing in the bathroom.

Casey tugged his shirt off over his head, throwing it over into the corner and studying himself in the mirror. An ugly, greenish-purple bruise was forming on his side. It wasn't pretty and he didn't dare touch it, already knowing how bad it would hurt later. R.J. was already on his back for pulling the stunt that had given him this. Stepping unnecessarily into the line of fire wasn't something he usually did. Lily was too fast to have been hurt but, but he couldn't stop the instinct that propelled him forward. He was a predator after all and predators are possessive.

Lily urged her hair back behind her ears with an annoyed sigh, trying to maneuver herself so it wouldn't fall dangerously close to the pizza sauce again. She failed miserably.

"Where are you going?" Theo asked with frustration marring his voice. It was the dreaded after-school rush and they weren't producing pizzas nearly as fast as they needed to be, only adding to the stress that would no doubt leave the three teens scarred for life.

"I need to grab my hair band. I left it in the bathroom."

The frustration left Theo's voice, panic taking its place. "But Casey's in there!"

"It's been almost an hour," she said, laughing at the look on his face as she jogged up the stairs. "He should be out by now. I'll be right back," she called over her shoulder.

Lily's smile grew at Theo's rebellious mutterings. He was kind of cute when he got protective like that. It did get kind of annoying after a while – and he'd been doing it all day. Add the embarrassment of this morning and there was really nothing cute about it.

It gave her a bit of a shock to find herself at the door, her feet automatically taking her to the bathroom as she thought. Pushing it open, instantly finding her missing scrunchie on the edge of the sink. Taking the few steps inside, she grabbed it and combed it back with her fingers, quickly fastening it into a ponytail.

"I guess we're even now."

Lily breathed in sharply, involuntarily falling into a defensive stance. She glanced over to the mirror, her eyes catching Casey's. Visibly relaxing, she turned towards him only to stiffen once again, a red blush instantly creeping up her neck until it flamed across her face. It wasn't fair that Casey was so much taller than her; it meant she was on eye level with a muscular and extremely bare upper body. In fact, he was dangerously close to being completely naked, the only thing that prevented it was a white towel that hung loosely off narrow hips.

"I walk in on you, you walk in on me," he went on, a slight smirk on his face. "Usually I'd call that fair."

"What do you mean usually?" Lily asked, slowly making her way to the open door when something stopped her dead. "Oh. My. God."

Casey frowned, quickly looking behind him before turning back to the yellow ranger in concern. "What?"

"Did you get that because of me? I thought you said you were fine, you idiot."

She was next to him in a heartbeat, her smooth fingers delicately tracing the bruise that threatened to cover most of his right side. She winced when he groaned, trying to ignore the sudden absence of fire burning its way across her skin when she stepped away.

"I should go get R.J.," she suggested numbly, turning away to leave the room.

"Wait." He made a grab for her arm, pulling her back to him with enough force that she fell forward onto his chest, shuddering with hidden pleasure at the return of the smoldering fire that threatened to consume her.

"I just wanted to say, you know," Casey cleared his throat uncomfortably, only managing to speak in broken sentences. "Be careful. When we're out there. You could have been hurt today."

"We all could have," Lily admitted somberly before smiling broadly. "But you were the only one stupid enough to actually let it happen to you."

She felt her knees buckle when he locked his playful, chocolate brown eyes with hers and slipped an arm around his waist, holding on for support.

"Don't I get some kind of reward for that?" he asked, grinning. "Even stupid bravery deserves something."

One of his hands came up to stroke her cheek, blistering her skin with that damnable fire he seemed to carry with him at all times. Her eyes closed as she leaned into his touch, her brain going hazy when his hand slid down to cup her chin, lifting her head closer to his until she could feel his hot breath against her face, mingling with hers in the small space between them.

Something inside her exploded when his lips finally met hers in one of the most unchaste and bruising kisses she had ever shared. She ran her hands slowly up his sides, tracing the hard contours of his chest – still wet from his shower – as his searing lips crushed hers. She yelped slightly against his mouth when her back hit the wall and he pushed himself against her, molding his scantily clad body to hers.

He trembled when her hands moved up to his neck, slipping up to entangle themselves in his damp brown hair as he nibbled on her lower lip, making her moan against him. He ran his tongue along her lips, pleading for the permission she gave only too willingly, wrestling for domination the moment his burning tongue tried to explore her mouth. She tugged on a few strands of his hair, feeling her heart speed up even faster at the low, animal growl that came from the back of his throat.

Casey was the first to break the kiss, chest heaving comfortably against her as he tried to regain his breath. Lily smiled up at him, trying to pretend she wasn't as hot and bothered as he was and twisted a tendril of his hair around her finger, grinning smugly.

"Is that enough of a reward for you, Case? Can I leave now?"

He growled at her, looking away only to securely close the bathroom door before his eyes, brown and smoldering, found her cool blue ones.

* * *

"What is that?"

Casey unconsciously rubbed at his neck, trying to ease the burning sensation that wouldn't leave him alone. "What's what?"

"That. On your neck." Fan ripped his hand away before he could stop her, her mouth dropping open at what she saw. "Is that a hick -?"

Casey lunged forward, covering her mouth with his hand and putting a finger to his lips at the same time. "Shh. Not so loud, Fran."

Fran stepped back, trying to stifle her giggles. "Who gave you that, Casey? Anyone I know?"

The door to the kitchen swung open and Lily ran in, giving Casey no chance to fight back as she sprayed whipped cream at him, yelling playfully. Theo came in only a few steps behind her, his face mournful as he went to stand next to Fran.

"I think it's kind of sweet."

"I think it's completely disgusting," Theo retorted, his face crinkling up in revulsion at the expression on Fran's face. His fellow worker didn't spare a look on him, staring dreamily at their two friends from across the room. Casey had wrestled the can of whipped cream from Lily and was gleefully decorating her with it. Not that Lily wasn't fighting back – she was, and winning if you judged by how much of the white substance the other had on them. Who knew you could get so much cream out of a single can.

Theo knew he shouldn't be bothered by any of this, food fighting was normal Casey-Lily behavior, but this was different for more than one reason. First of all, Lily blushed every time Casey so much as looked at her – and Lily never blushed. Second of all, there seemed to be an extreme amount of touching going on. His hand was permanently glued to her hips and hers to his arm. The smallest amount of physical contact that he had seen in the last few hours was them simply holding hands. It was, to say the least, nauseating.

"Fixed it!" R.J. yelled, quickly scrambling down the stairs with excitement. He frowned for a moment at Casey and Lily, but shrugged it off and turned to the two at the counter.

"Fixed what?" Fran asked absently.

"Our bathroom problem." He raised his hands to exaggerate as he explained. "There is now a sign hanging on the door which can be flipped to either read Occupied or Unoccupied. I think that will solve the ineffectual knocking that's been going around."

Theo, who had been taking a drink of water, choked on it, spewing water everywhere. R.J. thumped on his back with concern until the blue ranger coughed it back up.

"Was it something I said?" R.J. asked.

Theo ignored him, turning back to observe when Lily giggled, grabbing the front of Casey's shirt and pulling him towards the stairs. Casey followed her without a struggle, tossing the empty can of whipped cream in the garbage as he passed it. As they walked up the stairs, he barely resisted the urge to lean over and lick off a small glob of the white cream that smeared the tip of her chin as she led him down the hall and into the bathroom.

"I need to get cleaned off. Let's see what you can do abou that, tiger."

Resisting Lily for the smallest of seconds, Casey flipped the sign from 'Unoccupied' to 'Occupied' before letting her pull him completely inside and shut the door behind him.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked it. It's my first attempt at a one-shot and I really hoped I didn't fail :D Of course, I would never know if I failed or not if you don't click on that wonderful purple button below this and send me a review…see where I'm going with this? **


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